Editor's note: Because of a reporting error the original version of this story contained incorrect information about the company that installed 750 kilowatts of solar energy projects for the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative. ConEdison Solutions installed the projects.

The clouds appear to have cleared, at least partially, for several large solar energy projects on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard.

Projects in nine towns totaling nearly 12 megawatts worth of solar energy are under construction again, four months after work came to a screeching halt when the installer announced it was going out of business. An additional 16 megawatts are being installed by a separate company, primarily on Cape and Vineyard landfills.

"I'm just pleasantly surprised it's going as smoothly as it has," said John Checklick, president of the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative, the regional energy organization responsible for the projects.

In total, the projects are expected to save cooperative members and participants $2.8 million in the first year of operation, according to the cooperative.

While the construction on the solar arrays at schools, landfills and other municipal properties is advancing quickly, the projects have seen their share of speed bumps.

The cooperative was formed in 2007 to pursue renewable energy projects for its 17 member towns, Barnstable and Dukes counties, and the Cape Light Compact. The compact, which has bankrolled the cooperative's work, was formed in 1997 to buy power in bulk for electric customers on the Cape and Vineyard, provide energy-efficiency programs for local businesses and residents, and advocate for ratepayers.

Both organizations have faced criticism for having an intertwined leadership and legal representation, as well as for the use of ratepayer money to fund renewable energy projects.

Having been stymied by local opposition in its initial efforts to develop wind energy, the cooperative turned its primary focus to solar energy several years ago. It quickly had 750 kilowatts worth of solar energy projects installed on schools and other locations by Con Edison Solutions. American Capital Energy is currently installing an additional 16 megawatts worth of solar projects in seven towns for the cooperative.

Broadway Electrical was tapped in 2012 to install yet another group of projects for the cooperative in Round II which, at the time, was estimated to include 50 megawatts of solar energy worth $200 million. That figure was cut in half by March 2013 because of problems with roofs, concerns over clear-cutting and complicated approval processes to connect to the grid and to locate panels on land used for other purposes.

Over the past year, that figure has continued to decline and, in January, Broadway Electrical officials announced the company was going out of business and would not complete the work.

After several months of negotiations G&S Solar Installers LLC of New York took over the projects that now total just under 12 megawatts. Among the projects that didn't make the cut was a project in Brewster that would have required clear-cutting trees and a project in West Yarmouth at Mattacheese Middle School, which is tied up in a legal appeal brought by a neighbor.

Even the projects under construction are not without their hiccups.

Several solar panels were stolen last month from an American Capital project in Brewster. And the installer of a project on the Vineyard is working with neighbors to revise a plan for screening the solar panels from nearby homes, Checklick said.

"I don't necessarily know that we had a bottom-line number in mind," Checklick said about the elimination or postponement of projects. "We wanted to develop as many projects as we could."

Because of the procurement process, it was best to aim for as many projects as might be possible right off the bat, he said.

To qualify for a state incentive for solar energy projects the work on the current projects must be done by the end of July. The original deadline was June 30 but state officials agreed to extend it because of Broadway going out of business.

Some of the projects that fell by the wayside may be reconsidered under a new state incentive program, Checklick said.

"The pleasant surprise is given the kind of winter we've had that the contractors have been able to keep working and are making the kind of progress they're making," he said.